Could you please tell us what initially sparked your interest in safety management? Early in my career, I worked in industries such as structural steel, mining, oil, and gas, as well as pulp and paper. I was a blue-collar worker, lacing up my boots daily and working in high-risk applications. Safety was not a focus in the workplace back then, and I had three near misses that almost took my life. These incidents helped create a heightened awareness of the importance of a safe working environment and instilled a desire within me to help bring workers home safely to their families. Family is so important to me; my leadership style is to be a servant leader, and I learned that I thrive through helping individuals work in a safe environment which transfers to a positive impact on the local community. What aspects of your role at IFOdo you findmost interesting? I love the ability to make a positive impact on the individuals employed by our clients. Listening is critical in consulting as our role involves hearing the voice of concern, taking note of the ideas that team members offer and implementing the processes that will vastly improve working conditions. We collaborate with site personnel on the implementation of newprograms and process improvements to shift from a state of disaster to a safe working environment. Commonly, after a catastrophic event occurs, staff are deeply concerned about their safety. It is incredibly rewarding to see the cultural shift that occurs after collaboration and involvement in the project. When the project is complete, we commonly hear feedback that worksite personnel feel empowered and are proud to be a part of the change process. 79 APR 2022 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM EXPERT WITNESS David Prince Managing Consultant IFO Group 12302 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Conroe, TX 77385 Tel: +1 832-403-2135 E: info@ifogroup.com www.ifogroup.com What type of incidents does your companymost frequently investigate? We are often called to assist after a catastrophic accident, especially those involving a fire, explosion, structural collapse, toxic chemical release, pipeline failure, occupational fatality and/or major injury. These types of incidents trigger immediate cascading consequences including intense regulatory and media scrutiny, notifications to insurers, and the involvement of numerous affected stakeholders. All of this adds up to a major crisis that most organisations and legal counsellors struggle to contain without immediate outside assistance. This is where the IFO Group of experts come in. We offer our clients the latest investigative techniques and technologies to maximise the collection of critically valuable knowledge that can be gained from a loss and provide the information necessary to fully protect an organisation and its employees from future recurrences, as well as prepare for any potential litigation. Our experts have investigated many incidents covering a wide range of failures in a variety of industries and circumstances. By utilising the latest in investigation project techniques and technologies – specifically developed to maximise efficiencies – we can expedite the return of an incident site to the owner and facilitate recovery operations to help reduce overall losses. Following an incident, we can also assist in developing and implementing mitigation strategies and barrier philosophies to protect workers, assets, reputations, and the environment from incident recurrences. Howcan these incidents be better prevented? The key to incident prevention is the establishment of top-down safety precedence. An organisation’s leadership team needs to set the tone that safety is first and implement a system of
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